I could continue to focus on Life Markers; goodness knows life is giving me enough inspiration to draw from. The sculptures are beautiful, moving, and an extremely effective method for me to work through some of the hiccups of life. I could probably make them well in to the future, but is that what I really want? To find myself thirty years from now having only experienced creativity through a single totemic style?

These are good questions, serious questions and difficult ones to answer. Logically, from a career perspective, continuing to build on a body of work is a sound approach. But my gut is telling me something different. It is directing me to create based on a visceral response to being alive. It is telling me that my style is the body of the work, regardless of the subject.

The inspiration for my work is life, and how I respond to what it offers. Thinking about it though, it seems to me that my usual role is that of the observer. Only upon rumination am I able to see the connection to myself in an event. More specifically how an event acts as a lesson, offers direction, or provides the opportunity to better understand myself.

Fifty-nine days ago the method of delivery changed when one of life’s seemingly random events made me a participant rather than an observer. My husband was injured and it shook my very foundation. He is recovering from his physical injuries and everyday has him returning to the man he was before the accident. But, I will never be the same. Quite frankly, I don’t want to be the woman I was before this happened. I am stronger now and I know myself better than before. I feel…older somehow.

As a result, the focus of my work has shifted, at least for now, while I continue to find my bearings in world where the sun rises and sets with total disregard for my existence. I have discovered community, experienced the human element in humanity, and learned that while I may be alone in my individual existence I don’t need to feel lonely. Until this event I turned to nature to restore balance. Searching for, and finding meaning in the flora and fauna that surrounded me. This event had me reaching out in ways I had never done before and I found out that there is balance to be found in humans as well. Invisible threads between people that offer stability and support.

The human form has entered my work, front and centre. After all, if life is my resource for inspiration, how could it not?

The human form, a close-up of a current project in its early stage and new direction in the studio.